former british prime minister tony blair is going to be joining us. california congressman xavier beccerra will be with us. ron johnson. jeopardy champion ken jennings is back. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. i'll see everybody back here tomorrow morning. carol, good morning. >> hi, soledad. happening now in the newsroom, we are learning more about the nfl player and his girlfriend, victim of a murder/suicide. plus, the twitter firestorm surrounding bob costas's gun control comments following the tragedy. a dream encounter at seaworld turns terrifying for an 8-year-old girl. she says she thought the dolphin she was feeding would bite her hand off and haul her into the water. plus this -- >> i was flabbergasted. i looked at him and said, you can't be serious. i've just never seen anything like it. >> 29 days and counting until the u.s. could plunge off the fiscal cliff. this morning at least one republican is saying it's looking more like that's going to happen.

after the plan laid out by the white house. and she helped care for more than 140 children whose parents are behind bars in nepal. now she's got a new title. cnn hero of the year. cnn hero of the year. "newsroom" starting now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. concern this morning that a young woman's death will be overshadowed by fame. by now, even if you're not a football fan, you know the name jovan belcher. you know he killed the mother of his child and then committed suicide. but what do we know about his girlfriend? his partner? the mother of his child, kasandra perkins? according to the kansas city star perkins and belcher were madly in love but argued of late. the star added many people knew that belcher owned guns and enjoyed shooting but they'd never known him to be violent. not even close. nbc's bob costas on sunday night

football took on the gun issue and started a twitter firestorm. >> you want some actual perspective on this? well, a bit of it comes from the kansas city-based writer jason whitlock with whom i do not always agree but who today said it so well that we may as well just quote or paraphrase from the end of his article. our current gun culture, whitlock wrote, ensures more and more domestic disputes will end in the ultimate tragedy. >> we'll talk about guns and crimes and domestic violence in a minute. first, casey wian is in kansas city this morning with the chiefs. good morning, casey. >> reporter: good morning, carol. police here are continuing to investigate why a successful national football league player and new father killed the mother of his child and then himself. the latest fatal tragedy involving an nfl player began saturday morning. >> shooting 5401(k) rysler.

22-year-old female. >> two coaches, one other employee here. who's trying to beg with this guy. >> we've got shots fired. one in the head. get in here. >> it's clear what happened. police say chiefs linebacker jovan belcher shot his girlfriend, kasandra perkins, the mother of their 3-month-old daughter multiple times. then drove to the team's training facility and shot himself in front of his coach and general manager. but why remains unanswered. within hours the team and the league decided their sunday game against the carolina panthers would go on. >> i think they made the right decision to play the game because you've got to continue on. life goes on. >> reporter: fans who've been harshly critical of the team's performance on the field suddenly found compassion through an off the field tragedy. >> all we can do is rally around

the little girl that, you know, their little girl. and pray for both their families. >> we haven't, of course, had the best of year. and now, all of the sudden with this. for the longest time we have had that battle between the fans and the team this year. and maybe this will bring the both of them together. >> reporter: the chiefs played their best game of the season and won. >> it's tough when circumstance happen. you can't undo them. and so you have to rely on each other, rely on your family, your friends, and rely on your faith. >> reporter: the locker room was subdued and surreal. >> it was very emotional. but you saw brothers stick together. coaches stick together. and everybody stayed strong. >> sometimes you got to go out there, let your emotion, your frustration out on the field, i think that's what we did as a team today. still, once again, we lost a teammate and we lost a friend. >> reporter: also lost, a young mother and for a 3-month-old girl, the love of her parents lost forever. now, we've spoken with jovan

belcher's teammates, with his agent, with his neighbors. all of them say that this type of violent behavior was totally out of character for the jovan belcher they knew, carol. >> unbelievable. casey wian reporting live from kansas city this morning. now back to bob costas and his halftime segment on sunday night football where he talked about gun control. hln sports reporter joe carter has been following the social media backlash. that side of the story. morning, joe. >> reporter: hi, good morning, carol. yeah. last night during the eagles/cowboys sunday night football game, bob costas used his halftime segment to praise an article written by columnist jason whitlock. this was an article that related to the jovan belcher situation that happened in kansas city and gun control. and at the beginning of that segment, bob costas did say that he typically doesn't agree with jason whitlock a lot. jason whitlock is a former kansas city star columnist, currently a fox sport s

columnist. he says he doesn't usually like his opinions. in this case, he not only agreed with him, he felt like it was so spot on he quoted from the article and paraphrased it extensively. he's a little portion of bob costas's 90-second segment last night. let's take a listen to that. >> handguns do not enhance our safety. they exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments, and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. in the coming days, jovan belcher's actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. who knows. but here, wrote jason whitlock, is what i believe. if jovan belcher didn't possess a gun, he and kasandra perkins would both be alive today. >> reporter: you know, we live in a social media world. so as you can imagine, the twittersphere was all abuzz last night. reaction very swift. some agreeing with bob costas. others very frustrate. here's a tweet from a very

frustrated viewer saying guns don't kill people, people kill people. keep that liberal crap off the nfl aeir waves. a second tweet coming in from chris says bob costas just spoke some truth and real profound stuff on the sunday night football halftime show. to be fair, carol, bob costas for years has always given his opinion. it's typically on sports. he's made a lot of money doing that. he's had a really successful career doing that. last night, though, he definitely crossed over into a very politically charged topic that a lot of people have an opinion on. carol? >> you've got that right. joe carter, reporting live for us this morning. on to other news now, a scary moment at seaworld. a dolphin lunges out of a pool, chomps down on a young girl's hand and nearly drags her into the water. her parents videotaped the whole thing. here's evan lambert of affiliate wkmg. >> reporter: 8-year-old jillian thomas was living her dream, getting up close and personal

with dolphins, her favorite animal, the day before thanksgiving at seaworld. mom and dad had their camera rolling as jillian and her brother were feeding dolphins at the popular dolphin cove attraction. but jillian ran out of fish. in a split second her treat to feed the dolphins became a terror. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> reporter: one more time. the dolphin lunges out of the pool and goes straight for the tray of fish taking with it jillian's arm and dragging her toward the pool. >> we think that that attraction at seaworld is dangerous. and it was traumatic for us to go through that event. >> reporter: the thomases say the dolphin's bite punctured jillian's skin in three places and caused minor bleeding. but now she's doing okay. we asked seaworld about the incident and they told us in a statement nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our guests, employees and animals. educators and animal care staff are always on site at this area monitoring all interactions and are committed to guest safety. and the thomases say they were told repeatedly not to pick up the trays. but the 8-year-old just made a

mistake. >> she said she just forgot. as you see in the video, moved the plate to say she was done. >> reporter: of course, we know the dolphin wasn't. the thomases say they won't be back at seaworld and they hope others will heed their warning. >> we're not banking on seaworld changing that attraction. i'm -- you know, i'm sure that's not going to happen. but perhaps we can change the minds of another parent or even an adult. >> after the thomas family returned home to atlanta, the young girl spoke with our affiliate wsv. >> i was thinking, he's going to haul me into the water. this is a little crazy but i thought he was kind of going to eat my hand off. >> she's okay this morning. this is not the first time seaworld has had problems at the dolphin cove. two other children reportedly were bitten at the exhibit in 2006. on to politics now. time is quickly winding down. just 29 days to go when the white house and congressional republicans are nowhere close to

a deal to avert that fiscal cliff. the obama administration has laid out its plan calling for $1.6 trillion in new taxes. that includes letting the bush era tax cuts expire for those earning more than $250,000 a year. it's also pushing for a new $50 billion stimulus package and offering $400 billion in new cuts to medicare and other entitlement programs. but republican house speaker john boehner flatly rejected the plan on the table and what he calls the white house's unwillingness to compromise. >> i was just flabbergasted. i looked at him, i said, you can't be serious. i've never seen anything like it. you know, we've got seven weeks between election day and the end of the year. and three of those weeks have been wasted with this nonsense. >> you know, i think right now the best thing to do is for them to come to us and say, look, here's what we think makes sense. we've told them what we think makes sense. what we can't do is try to

figure out what's going to be good for them. they have to come tell us. >> house minority leader and democrat nancy pelosi also jumping into the fray. she's renewed threats to bring a middle income tax cut bill to the house floor if boehner refuses to schedule a vote on the cuts this week. we'll keep you posted. for the past six years, you have helped cnn honor the men and women whose efforts in their communities are changing the lives of others. this year you selected a woman from nepal as your 2012 cnn hero of the year. pushpa basnet supports children when their parents are behind bars. kareen wynter has more on the all-star tribute. >> reporter: the red carpet outside l.a.'s shrine auditorium buzzed with excitement. but this time the bright lights shined on some special stars. everyday people changing the world. >> welcome to cnn heroes: an allstar tribute. >> reporter: out of thousands of nominations submitted by cnn's global audience ten amazing men

and women were singled out for their remarkable, heroic efforts to make the world a better place. people like raja jan who's providing a free education to hundreds of girls in rural afghanistan. >> i think education is the only thing in the world that can go forward and make life better. >> reporter: and leo mccarthy who gives scholarships to kids who pledge not to drink after his daughter was killed by a young driver. >> let's change the culture and keep these promising, vibrant kids alive. >> reporter: olympic swimmer colin jones helped celebrate wanda bot's golden moment motivated by her son's tragic drowning. she created a nonprofit that's helped more than 1,200 children learn how to swim. >> it is unbelievable to me that i have come this far from such a tragedy with my son. >> reporter: it was an unforgettable night capped off with the unveiling of the cnn hero of the year. pushpa basnet, founder of a children's home in nepal that

helps kids whose parents are in prison. >> thank you so much for everyone who voted for me and who believed in my dream. >> reporter: the hope is that their heroic example will inspire countless others. ♪ >> reporter: kareen wynter, cnn, los angeles. a little bit more about the winner. pushpa basnet. she started a home in nepal to take care of children whose parents are in prison. many children in nepal are often forced to live in prison with their incarcerated parents because there's no one else to take care of them. basnet's nonprofit also provides children an education, food and medical care. so far 140 children have been helped and for being named cnn hero of the year, basnet received $50,000. and her nonprofit will receive a grant of $250,000. congratulations. if you missed cnn heroes: an allstar tribute or just want to watch it again, cnn will reair

it this saturday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern. we're less than a month away from our trip over the fiscal cliff. the average american family could get hit hard. so what's the fairest plan of all? customer erin swenson bought from us online today. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics.

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it is 16 minutes past the hour. time to check our top stories. nine bodies have been removed from vehicles inside a collapsed tunnel near tokyo, japan. huge chunks of concrete fell sunday, smashing the vehicles below. investigators say some anchor bolts on the fallen concrete slabs are missing. the tunnel remains closed. the government now ordering an inspection of the 49 other tunnels with similar ceiling structures. residents of the small louisiana town of doyline will be out of their homes for at least one more day. 6 million pounds of gun powder were found improperly stored at a nearby army base. the gun powder was found in a follow-up inspection after an explosion in october. 820 residents are not allowed inside their homes sfwlnchts in sports two familiar rivals will meet again with the national championship on the line. notre dame will face off against alabama in college football's

biggest game on january 7th. the two historic programs have met just six times. notre dame has won five of those games including in the 1973 sugar bowl which was for the national championship. all right. we're just 29 days away from the fiscal cliff and the possible start of tax hikes for you and your family. bush era tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year, hitting middle-class families with an average $3,500 tax hike and a 7% increase for the top 1%. that's according to the tax policy center. treasury secretary timothy geithner set out his terms for an agreement that include more than a billion dollars in new taxes and tells cnn there will be no deal without tax rates going up on the wealthiest americans. but so far, neither side of the political aisle is budging. so what happens if a deal is not reached? and taxes go up? and spending cuts happen? let's ask wall street journal's

senior economics writer steven moore and author of "who's the fairest of them all?" hi, steven. >> hi, good morning. >> what happens? i think lindsey graham came out and said, hey, i'm sure of it. we're going off the fiscal cliff. >> if you asked me a week or two ago i would have said there's no way this isn't going to get resolved. i've been watching for 25 years. these two sides are further apart today than they were a few weeks ago. i'm not sure they're closing the gap. i suppose that a few days before christmas they'll probably come to their senses and reach an agreement. but there is a still a big divide and it really is over that issue about whether we should be raising tax rates on wealthy people or anyone. and that really is going to be, i think, the final negotiating item is how much taxes should go up if at all. >> see, i don't think that is a negotiating item. i think the president has been clear that tax rates are going to go up on the wealthiest americans, period. that's kind of off the table. >> look, i think where republicans are is saying, look,

there's no doubt about it in my mind and i think a lot of republicans if you raise those taxes on businesses and investors it's going to hurt the economy and this isn't the best time to do any injury to businesses and investors when we don't have enough jobs in this country. but you may be right that the president will insist on those tax rates going up and republicans have said, look, instead of raising the tax rates why don't we close loopholes in the tax system, make the tax system more efficient and stop picking winners and losers. i think that's the latest offer the republicans have put on the table. they're not opposed to a tax increase. they're basically saying let's do it the right way in a way that doesn't hurt the economy. >> yeah, but stephen, you could close every loophole that's out there and that wouldn't make up for our deficit. >> no, but the president's plan of raising taxes on the rich, let's assume even he has his way. let's assume republicans go along with his plan. that at best raises about $70 billion a year. that leaves us with a trillion dollar deficit. this puts the president i think in a little bit of a hole.

if the republicans give his way, what's plan "b"? what do we do next to deal with the deficit? the president and tim geithner basically this weekend said we've got plans to cut entitlements by 400 bill or ion 500 billion dollars. that's over ten years. we have a much bigger hole than i think anyone in washington is willing to agree is such a problem. >> lrepublicans are angry the president laid out this plan that they say he knew would just inflame them. >> that's true. >> why toedon't republicans act like big boys and girls and present their own plan about how they specifically want to cut entitlements? isn't that how you negotiate? >> yes, but, of course, they've done that. that's the most curious thing to me. tim geithner said the republicans should come forward with a plan. you know this. over the last two or three years in the house of representatives controlled by republicans, they have passed what's called the

ryan budget for three years in a row. it has very substantial entitlement cuts. you've reported on this on cnn. in fact, all the left wing groups had all these ads saying the republicans want to throw granny over the cliff. so it's pretty clear. republicans have been very specific about how they want to reform entitlements. the problem is there's no plan by the president. he's been in office for four years and we haven't seen a spending reduction. >> it is the dawn of a new day. i hear you about the ryan thing. i do. i hear you. but it is the dawn of a new day. negotiations have started anew. isn't it time to lay out new, fresh plans instead of saying, oh, yeah, check back before the election like our plan then. we're still for that. that's not a way to negotiate, is it? >> look, i mean, i'm not exactly sure what you want the republicans to do. they've said here's our plan for something like $3 trillion or $4 thri trillion in tcuts. the president could say i'll take this one and this one but can't live with these other ones.

so far the president hasn't come up with any reduction in entitlements. i think the thing you and i would agree on is we've got to be adults and grown-ups, to borrow your phrase, about how we're going to deal with these entitlement programs. the biggest factor in driving this tet over the next 20 years as you know, guess what, there's 75 million baby boomers now paying taxes and contributing that are going to be retiring. the math doesn't add up without cuts to social security and medicare. >> i think you're right. there needs to be this balanced approach and everything should be on the table. i do agree with you there. >> not tax increases that hurt the economy. that's my only point. you thought we had an agreement there, didn't you? >> i did. we were close. stephen moore, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> my pleasure. take care. of the many unanswered questions about the jovan belcher murder/suicide tragedy, our talk back question today, should the perkins/belcher tragedy cause us to rethink gun

control? is bob costas right? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll be right back. there's a health company that can help you stay that way. what's healthier than that? and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center...

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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should the perkins/belcher tragedy cause us to rethink gun control? there's been a lot of speculation about why kansas city chiefs player jovan belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself. did he just snap? was he suffering undiagnosed head injuries? many also wonder, could the tragedy have been prevented? nbc sports analyst bob costas thinks so. on sunday night football costas quoted sports writer jason whitlock saying america's gun culture ensures that more domestic disputes will end in death. >> in the coming days, jovan belcher's actions and their possible connection to football will be analyzed. who knows. but here, wrote jason whitlock, is what i believe. if jovan belcher didn't possess a gun, he and kasandra perkins would both be alive today. >> costas' comments ignited a firestorm on twitter. here's a sample.

i wonder if it occurred to bob costas that if belcher's girlfriend had had a gun with her she might be alive today. nah. this from right wing b. a woman killed her husband with a shovel yesterday. should we have stricter regulations at home depot? yet this is no laughing matter. women are six times more likely than men to be killed in a domestic dispute. according to the national center for victims of crime and the fbi, nearly 38% of female murder vikt ctims in 2010 were killed a husband or boyfriend. the justice department says guns are used in more than half the cases of intimate homicide. how's that for a macabre description of murder? talk back today. should the perkins/belcher tragedy cause us to rethink gun control? facebook.com/carolcnn. facebook.com/carolcnn. your comments later this hour. this murder/suicide has puzzled so many people, including belcher's agent. hear what he has to say next. it's a new day.

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30 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. stories we're watching right now in the "newsroom," the nfl kansas city chiefs reportedly plan to start a fund for the baby of one of their players, jovan belcher, who police say killed the baby's mother saturday and himself. earlier on saturday belcher's agent spoke to cnn, said the tragedy is troubles everyone. >> the how and why is the crazy of this. there's nothing in my relationship with him that would indicate any troubling past, anything that troubled him, that would have caused him to commit such a heinous act as this. and we just -- we'll never know, unfortunately. >> maybe not. so far police have said little about why this happened.

in paulsboro, new jersey, residents are being told to stay in doors after friday's train derailment. coast guard says heightened chemical levels in the air are the reason. all schools in the area have been closed as a precaution. one words like flabbergasted, rope a dope and our favorite political world nonstarter start flying around, you know we're about to fall off the fiscal cliff. not yet. but it sure doesn't look like. president obama laid out his plan. $1.6 trillion and taxes on the rich and $400 billion in cuts. republicans say they're, well, flabbergasted. and today grover norquist, who is against any tax increase, has an idea. if you want to know who's negotiating in good faith, put it on tv. >> it's the president who's threatening to raise taxes on the middle class if he doesn't stomp his feet and fwet his way. he should get into a room with c-span cameras there so instead

of hearing rhetoric like this, let's hear it in front of c-span cameras. if the republicans being reasonable, we'll see that. if they're not, we'll see that. got to have cameras in that room. >> i personally love c-span as do cnn contributors l.z. granderson and will cain. welcome to both of you. let's start there. i would love to watch the negotiations in realtime. does mr. norquist have a dandy idea, l.z.? >> i don't think so. i really don't. i mean, how many people are watching c-span now? that's not the bash c-span. it's not as if this negotiation is going to last 45 minutes with 18 minutes of commercials. it's going to last for hours and hours and hour. i severely doubt the american people are going to sit there, they don't have time to sit there and watch the two parties go back and forth. while i think it's a novel idea i don't think it's one that's necessarily going to happen nor should it happen.

>> really a lot of the negotiations go on, you know, not in the same room, right? >> that's true, carol. but come on. we can put book tv on pause for a few minutes and let a few hours of negotiation play out. it's really not about the ratings and how many americans would tune in. it's about getting these two sides on the record so the way they posture in public and on sunday talk shows reflects the way they're actually negotiating. you know, i will remind you, during the obama care negotiations and back and forth between congress and the president, it was a pretty fascinating thing to air when the president sat down with congress and had his exchange with paul ryan over the intricacies of obama care. it was useful. this could be useful as well. >> i actually agree with will, l.z. i think it would be a real education for people. >> for what people? us. we're the ones that are into this kind of stuff. the american people, they're not. think about the number of people who still think president obama was not born in this country. think about the number of people who believe that president obama is not a christian despite the amount of information we tell them over and over again.

they still hold on to their partisan values and thoughts. that's why i don't think this will be productive. because it doesn't really matter how much facts you give people. they're going to believe what they want to believe. >> i just saw the movie "lincoln." that gave me more faith in america. >> i saw "skyfall" instead. i'm thinking everybody's a spy. >> no. i mean honestly, you do wonder how much of this is posturing. so when senator lindsey graham comes out and says i'm sure we're going off the political cliff. i'm sure the democrats have come to this political solution that they're going to let us go off the fiscal cliff, they're going to blame -- blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. i kind of don't believe that. at least i don't want to believe it. >> you just misspoke. but it was actually -- it was actually poignant. you said the political cliff instead of the fiscal cliff. i think that's actually apropo.

republicans are going to have to realize that not coming back with some kind of offer -- this is what's got to happen. republicans got to respond to this ridiculous offer that president obama put forward with their own. and then both sides will -- will beat it up and say how terrible it is. but at least the ball will get moving forward. the truth is, republicans don't have leverage. they lose the political fight. so they're going to be the ones that have to give in on the negotiations here. >> see, l.z., he makes it sound so simple. >> it sounds simple, but i isn't simple. the fact of matter is, right now boehner, if he really wanted to, could lead a vote for the bill that is senate has already passed that would extend the bush tax cuts to the middle class. they won't do that much. they're not even willing to do the part that everyone agrees on because they're posturing so hard. but will definitely has a point. in two years there's going to be a mid-term election. no politician on either side wants to stand in front of their constituents and say vote for me because i raised your taxes and

didn't do anything in washington for two years. >> l.z. granderson, will cain, got to leave it there. thanks so much. >> you bet. wherever she goes, kim kardashian sadly draws a crowd. but an overseas trip for the reality tv star involving a simple thing like milkshakes might be drawing more than just fans. can i help you? i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want

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why does something as simple as a milkshake reportedly end with police and tear gas? when it involves one of the most popular reality stars on the planet. a.j. hammer is in new york to tell us all about kim kardashian's overseas trip. good morning. >> good morning, carol. this might surprise you, but not everyone is a kim kardashian fan. she was invited to bahrain to help launch a millions of milkshakes franchise. there was a big crowd of screaming fans on hand. they were there to help her celebrate the launch.

there were also apparently some people on hand who don't approve of all the attention kim kardashian gets because they don't really consider her to be much of a role model. so we do know that some protesters held up signs complaining about the appearance. what we haven't been able to confirm just yet are the reports that police dispersed a crowd of around 100 protesters with tear gas before the event. bahrain, ok, is a monarchy. they've used force on demonstrators in the past. even though the local milkshake place promoter has denied the story, carol, the international press is reporting that the incident did happen and tear gas was dispersed. i can see why the promoter wouldn't want that associated with the launch of his milkshake pran ch franchise. >> it's a strange world, a.j. that's all i'm going to say. let's talk about something even stranger. hugh hefner. >> this could be considered stranger to a lot of people. the runaway bride has returned. 86-year-old hugh hefner and 26-year-old crystal harris may, in fact, be engaged for the second time. >> that's beautiful.

>> you may remember the first time around harris jilted -- it is a thing of beauty. harris jilted hef before they were set to walk down the aisle the first time. places like tmz are saying they're going to give it a second chance. harris moved back into the famed playboy mansion. they've been open about being in a relationship but they haven't officially confirmed news of their reengagement. just look to social media. there have been critic messages dropped on their twitter accounts. i don't know if this means anything but harris's instagram page now has her name as crystal hefner. carol, we remember the old cliche of schoolgirls in the sixth grade writing their last name as the guy they hope to marry some day. maybe it's now done on social media. >> maybe so. it's so beautiful. thanks, a.j. >> you got it. good word on twitter. pope benedict is nondaine days sending out his very first tweet. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future.

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45 minutes past the hour. the kansas chiefs played on sunday despite the jovan belcher murder/suicide tragedy. though the chiefs won the postgame remarks were focused on the loss of belcher and his partner, kasandra perkins. quarter back brady quinn and head coach romeo crennel spoke about what it was like to walk into the locker room. here they are in their own words. >> when i first got in i looked across, saw his jersey hanging up. his locker was still filled with everything. that's when it kind of hit me. so, you know, it was kind of tough to step back and try to

gain focus, you know. you know, what the task was in front of us. you know, more than anything else, you know, i think as a player, we just wanted to try to come together as a team and, you know, try to bring some good to the situation. bring glory to the situation whenever you can. >> it's tough when circumstance happen, you can't undo them. and so you have to rely on each other, rely on your family, your friends, and rely on your faith. that's what the team tried to do today and were able to do that. and try to work our way through the tragedy. because knowing that it's not over today. it's still will go on tomorrow, the next day, and the next day. but life is going to go on as well and we have to work through it. >> i've been through this situation earlier in the year in tennessee. when i was in cincinnati.

i'm kind of used to it now. i wouldn't say used to it, but i've been in the situation before. so continue to try to pray for the families that lost loved ones and continue to go. >> we need to talk to each other more as men. not as football players. i mean in life. because generally men don't really show their feelings. you know, they don't talk about what's going on or they don't cry. they don't show emotion. i mean, to have an act go on like this yesterday, it's one of those things, it could have been avoided. but as a teammate, you know, we have to do more about not getting in people's business, but, i mean, just -- just, you know, making sure, you know, your teammate's okay. >> "usa today" is reporting the chiefs are starting a fund to support jovan belcher and kasandra perkins' daughter, zoey. the 3-month-old is now being cared for by a grandmother. the many unanswered questions about the jovan

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talk back question today. should the tragedy cause us to rethink gun control? laws are for the law abiding. people who commit crimes pay no attention to laws. this from simon. guns don't kill people. oh wait. yes, they do. this from james. if what happened in arizona doesn't cause us to rethink gun control nothing will. and this from mike. steak knives, baseball bats and automobiles make great murder weapons, too. the whole notion of gun control is just plain stupid. we have a behavior problem in this country. that's where the focus needs to be. continue the conversation.

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all right. "sports illustrated" about to make the biggest announcement of the year, that would be for sportsman of the year. joining me now is "si's" manager editor chris stone. chris, take it away. who is it? >> the recipient of our 58th sportsman of the year is lebron james. >> wow! why lebron james? >> well, above all, sportsman of the year rewards athletic excellence. and we're talking about a guy who had a historic year. and, you know, to say that he won a nba title and mvp and

olympic gold, you know, that would be somewhat of an incomplete answer. the creators of this award really emphasize the manner of the striving of the athlete. and attaining what they attained and one thing about lebron i think that's very underrated is that he really respects his gifts. he respects his talent. he respects his game and his teammates and his opponents. and i think all of that came to fruition in 2012. >> wow. okay. so lebron james, of course, knows this by now. we have a bit of sound from him right now. let's get his reaction of billion named sportsman of the year. >> i try to play like it's my last each and every night out. i don't take the game for granted. i mean, this is a sorority that we have. this is a brotherhood that we have in the league and not many people make it so i'm happy and blessed to be part of the league and then at the same time be

able to impact while i'm here so i hope people appreciate that. >> see, i'm from the cleveland area and kind of hurts me in a way -- >> oh boy. >> i know. is all of that gone? the way he left cleveland and celebrated when, you know, those -- all those great players joined the miami heat. is everybody over that now? does it matter anymore? >> oh, i don't think people are over it. i ohm sure there's some people out there who probably think that the mayans were correct and the world will end this month. i think people still have a very -- there are some people who find it unforgivenibable an what i would add is -- and the author of the story lee jenkins points this out. this isn't about sportsman year of the 2010, 2011. this is sportsman of the year 2012 and he had a very districtive, distinguished year

that was historic in every way. i think ultimately, you know, he goes in to arenas nows and looks in the stands and once saw anger he sees -- and it's not just him who sees this. he sees appreciation. it might be grudging appreciation but appreciation nonetheless. >> well, okay. i'll put my objective hat back on. anybody that follows the nba knows how great lebron is. fabulous basketball player. his coach, though, wonders how much greater he could still be. let's listen to that. >> i don't think anybody including lebron knows what his ceiling is. he's right in the prime of his career. physically and mentally. and yet, he wants more. he continues to try to get better to study the game, to see where he can improve. it's fascinating to see when the best is still motivated like he was somebody fighting for our

contract. >> okay, chris. so how much better can lebron get? >> well, i think, obviously, his -- that was coach eric spoelstra but the president of the heat, pat riley, likes to call him boat which is an acronym of best of all time and both he, pat and lebron acknowledge he is not there yet but this is only the 28th year here and i don't think there's a question in anybody's mind at some point if he stays healthy and the current arc of his career eclipse michael jordan unquestionably right now, the boat. >> i can't say that i think you're wrong because you're probably not because to watch him play is amazing. chris stone, thank you so much for making the announcement in "the newsroom." you can read about it in "sports illustrated." next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts right now.

happening now, he's on the run and making it very public at the same time. computer software pioneer john mcafee avoiding the police and cannot avoid cnn. our martin savage with an exclusive report. bob costas with controversy again. the comments over gun control of the murder-suicide of a kansas city chiefs linebacker and partner. it has the social media ablaze. global warming. don't ask arizona governor jan brewer. >> where did that come from? >> hmm. hear the question that made the governor respond in that particular way. and there may be no bigger target of david letterman than president obama but he's helping to honor the late-night comic and several others. "newsroom" starts now.

good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. normally a case of, oh wow, somebody stole my laptop but if you're martin savage and in belize covering the strange case of john mcafee, a missing laptop seems like a sinister twist. authorities there want to question mcafee about the death of his neighbor. martin was the first reporter to track the fugitive down. >> reporter: the search to find john mcafee began here at the airport and three simple reasons. sorry i'm late. a prearranged code word. what followed was a long drive and when you thought it was coming and, instead, we get in to a parking lot, get to another vehicle, drive off again. this time, with switchbacks, u-turns and back alleys.

it was clearly meant to confuse us as well as anyone following. and then, there we were. face to face. observation number one. with john mcafee there is no such thing as a simple answer. you are john mcafee. >> i think so, yes. i am john mcafee. >> reporter: he seemed nervous, anxious, fidgety. >> are you afraid? >> wouldn't you be so? >> reporter: he used that sir thing a lot. his hair jet black. part of the disguise he says and asking us to wait for his hair to dry before starting the interview and that interview from completely convincing like when i asked him about the neighbor's murder. did you kill him? >> why would i kill him? he was a neighbor that lived 200 yards down the beach. >> reporter: really believe the government is -- a vendetta to

take you down and kill you? >> absolutely. >> reporter: he said not he's not on drugs. he whatn't touched alcohol in 30 years but he has started smoking again which he puts down to current circumstances. and he's not alone. running with his 20-year-old girlfriend and mcafee who's 67 openly speaks of many more. >> it's absolutely real that i had six -- how many? >> 50. >> reporter: it seemed almost surreal right down to the coffee i drank with him. before we parted, there was one more question i had to ask of this software genius. are you a smart man? i know you're an intelligent man. >> i don't think so. if i'm smart, would i be here? i'm a foolish man, i know that much. >> reporter: you know what? i believe him. >> you're welcome.

>> wow. martin savage joins us live now. there's a reason i talked about the missing laptop at the top of the show. let's start there. your laptop is missing. why do you find that so strange? >> reporter: well, i mean, you know, it was the laptop and the iphone and it went missing within 24 hours having done that interview. petty crime in belize like in many places is a problem. could very well have been that. but it's also interesting to know that greg who was murdered it was his laptop and iphone taken. it just adds to the curiosity of the story which, well, no shortage of that, is there, carol? >> no. just so strange. what have authorities told you about the killing of this neighbor, gregory fall? >> reporter: not much, beyond what we know which is that he was murdered somewhere on -- between a saturday and sunday morning. that was in early november and

he was shot once in the back of his head and a .9 millimeter shell casing. beyond that, they say don't have anything and the case at a dead end and hard to imagine and that's why they say it's so important to talk to john mckay fee but he is as we saw not telling them very much. he said he had nothing to do with it and getting an attorney he'll say even less if he's pulled in for questioning. so i don't know how this case is going to be solved. there is ballistics. they had some bullets to try to compare that came from mcafee's gun and the one found in the man who was killed. whether they match up, we don't know and authorities won't reveal that to us at least. >> okay. final question, could you find john afee again if you had to? >> reporter: a meeting place, as you saw, it was really strange to come to him and then left him, literally dumped on the street in a neighborhood. we had no idea where we were and it was dark. i'm sure by now he's moved on

and whether he keeps moving we'll have to see. >> martin savage live from belize this morning. also today, questions of why a vibrant 22-year-old woman kasandra perkins is dead. police say she was shot multiple times by jovan belcher. the chief's players are confused and heart broken over this tragedy and many people are still wondering this morning why the chiefs decided to play the game at all. it was uncomfortable to say the least. belcher's agent says he like everyone else is stunned that belcher turned violent. >> the how and the why is the craziness of this. there's nothing in my relationship with him that would indicate any troubling past, anything that troubled him that would have caused him to commit such a heinous act as this and we just -- we'll never know, unfortunately. and i think that's the great

debate of this. >> chiefs won the game against carolina and later in the locker room head coach spoke to the team. >> it's something really good today. really good. you overcame a lot. you stuck together as a team like we talked about. helped each other. all right? family and friends. you relied on those people. all right? you relied on your faith to help get you through this and we got through it. and in a grand way because everybody made a contribution. everybody helped. okay in that's what a team is about. that's what a team is about. >> police say belcher used a gun to kill his partner and himself and halftime segment on sunday night football bob costas made a case for gun control. sports reporter joe carter joins us now. this bob costas commentary, it ignited a twitter firestorm. >> reporter: yeah, to say the

least, carol. good morning to you. during the halftime show, the eagles-cowboys game last night, bob costas basically praised the columnist's article in relation to the belcher murder-suicide in kansas city on saturday and gun control. bob costas started out by saying over the years he'd not always agreed with the opinions and views and he's a columnist in the kansas city star before and now fox sports national but bob costas said he agreed with the point of view on gun control and so spot on he went on to quote from the article and paraphrase from it extensively. here's a portion of what he had to say in the 90-second segment. >> handguns do not enhance the safety. they exacerbate the flaws and bait us in to embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it. in the coming days jovan

belcher's actions and possible connection to football will be analyzed. who knows? but here wrote jason whitlock is what i believe. if jovan belcher didn't possess a gun, he and k asandra perkins would be alive today. >> reporter: you can imagine that type of a platform and that type of a message created a lot of reaction from the twitter world, the social media world. we have tweets for you. people frustrated with the statements last night. one person tweeting that guns don't kill people. people kill people. keep that liberal crap off the nfl airwaves. you did have some people very much in support of what bob costas said. this tweet saying he spoke some truth and real profound stuff on the halftime show. bob costas over the years made a lot of money and has had a very successful broadcasting career giving his opinion on television. typically it's about sports or teams or athletes relating to

that sport. last night, though, he crossed over and took on a politically-charged topic and in the living rooms of football fans' homes across the country. >> he certainly did. joe carter reporting for us live this morning. there are reports he was angry at perkins coming home late from a concert and there was no report of domestic violence. according to "usa today" he earned a degree in family relations from the university of maine and he was a member of male athletes against violence and signed an anti-violence pledge to, quote, look honestly at my actions in regards to violence and make changes if necessary. yet police say belcher shot the mother of his child and before the chiefs played sunday they held a moment of violence for victims of domestic violence and families and no mention of kasandra perkins and jovan

belcher. some former chiefs players reached out to you. what did they tell you? >> well, actually, carol, you know, my former broadcast partner for the nfl fox -- nfl on fox was a chiefs player for a number of years an he reached out to me actually on friday night just to catch up and say hello and then when we woke up saturday morning and got this news, we spoke again and the first thing basically that he said was, this is crazy. you know, something that you just mentioned was the fact that jovan belcher shot and killed his girlfriend and some of the details that were coming out during the day yesterday i found really troubling, that the official -- the police officials in kansas city were telling reporters were not only did he shot her but nine times on saturday. and so, that's something that was so troubling but one of the things that j.c. pierson told me

is he believes it's not necessarily a football issue. this happened with a person who happens to be a football player but it's a domestic violence issue. >> come on. we hear -- we hear a lot about domestic violence within the football world. this is not the first player to have hurt his girlfriend or wife. >> yeah. you're right. you're right, carol. it's not the first chiefs player. former chiefs player larry johnson arrested multiple times for domestic violence issues. one of those that led to his dismissal from the team in years past. you're right about that. but i think that it does lend to a bigger issue because we do hear about this and we have been talking about this because it is a football player and the national football league but we hear the story so many times, we hear it almost night on the news but it's seven minutes in to a broadcast and then we continue on. here's a statistic, though, that i was hearing and just really

stuck with me. in recent years according to the bureau of justice, 33% of female murder victims were murdered by someone they were intimate with as opposed to 4% of men. now the numbers in the nfl aren't as startling but what i do think is interesting is that in this offseason, the commissioner said his two most important issues going forward with players this season would be cutting down on the duis and cutting down on domestic violence. >> you know, and just another note because, you know, everybody says there was no sign that he was abusing his girlfriend in any way but could n't you say the same thing about chris brown and rihanna? the day she turned up battered and bruised did anybody suspect that chris brown was a batterer? >> here's what i will say about that, carol. there's a lot of things that go unspoken we know in situations. and i think that there's always

those report that is come after like we heard in the chris brown and rihanna situation that they had a bit of a volatile relationship. some people made it sound as easy as, well, they loved hard. they fought a lot but they loved very hard and you hear that phrase a lot of times. in this situation now with jovan belcher and kasandra perkins, they fought but no one really thought anything of it. one of her friends gave an interview to a newspaper yesterday saying she told me they had had an argument a couple days before and everything was fine now. sometimes and chiefs quarterback brady quinn made this point yesterday after the game. he said sometimes you have to -- when you ask someone how they're doing or what's going on, you have to mean it and want to know what is going on. >> exactly. thanks so much. >> sure. a star studded turnout at the kennedy center for the

honors awards. ♪ hoffman, buddy guy, led zeppelin and ballerina. president obama often on the received end of david letterman's jokes, but he returned the favor at a white house reception. >> yes, david letterman what's it like to tape his show, he'll say if it's going well it just lifts you. if it's not going well, it sinks you. it's exhilarating. it's my favorite hour of the day. it's unclear how dave feels about this hour. it's different when you're not the one with the mike. isn't it, dave? you're looking a little stressed, aren't you? >> first lady michelle obama just about upstaged everyone in the shimmering gold gowndy

michael kors. back to seriousness now. serious stuff now, i should say. the fighting goes on every day in syria. so far chemical weapons have not been used but today there's a new warning from the united states to the syrian government. we'll tell you about that. ♪ [ female announcer ] holiday cookies are a big job. everything has to be just right. perfection is in the details. ♪ get to holiday fun faster with pillsbury cookie dough. get to holiday fun faster try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do

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all right. this just in to cnn. at least 21 students in atlanta taken to children's hospital after a hazmat situation shut down the school. this is from wxia. reported six people overcome by carbon monoxide school at finch elementary school in southwest atlanta. the school district spokesman telling cnn the rest of the students are safe. they -- ah, heart breaking picture. rest of the students are safe and moved to a nearby middle school. checking other top stories this morning, syria says it will not use chemical weapons against

its people. it's in are spresponse to a warf united states. >> we have made our views very clear. this is a red line for the united states. i'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what would do in the event of credible evidence that the assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. but suffice it to say we are certainly planning to take action if that event ality were to were occur. chrysler had the best november ever. almost. the car maker says last month the best november in five years with sales up 14%. it's the 32nd consecutive month that sales have been up over the

previous year. in northern northern kra heavy rains soaked the bay area. >> this thing just went up fast. just went real fast. fire department was out here and got a lot of stuff, you know, away from the house and didn't float down the road and stuff but this is a worst. >> the nfl kansas city chiefs apparently plan to start a fund for a child of a player. early this morning, belcher's agent talked with cnn saying that the tragedy was troubling. >> the how and the why is the craziness of this. there was nothing in my relationship with him to indicate any troubling past, anything that troubled him that would have caused him to commit such a heinous act at this and we just -- we'll never know,

unfortunately. >> so far, police have said little about why this happened. of the many unanswered questions, our talk back question today. could we rethink gun control? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll be right back. there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair

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now's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. should the perkins/belcher tragedy cause us to rethink gun control? been a lot of speculation about why kansas city chiefs player jovan belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself. did he just snap? was he suffering undiagnosed head injuries? could the tragedy be prevented? bob costas thinks so. he said the culture ensures more disputes will end in death. >> in the coming days, jovan belcher's actions and possible connection to football will be analyzed. who knows? but here wrote jason whitlock is

what i believe. if belcher didn't possess a gun he and kasandra perkins would be alive today. >> the comments cause add firestorm on twitter. i wonder if it occurred that if belcher's girlfriend had had a gun with her she might be alive tonight. nah. this, a woman killed her husband with a shovel yesterday. should we have stricter regulations at home depot? yet this is no laughing matter. women six more times likely than men to be killed in a domestic dispute. nearly 38% of female murder victims in 2010 were killed by a husband or boyfriend. the justice department says guns are used in more than half the cases of intimate homicide. talk back today, should the perkins/belcher tragedy cause us to rethink gun control?

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before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for being with us. a quiz at 30 minutes past the hour. not hard. really. depressing maybe. hard, no. it's the fiscal cliff quiz courtesy of friends at cnnmoney.com. how many households would pay more taxes in 2013 if we go over the fiscal cliff? everyone? about half?

75%? or nearly 90%? okay. here's the answer. nearly 90% of households face a higher tax burden. the increase would be $3,500. hearing words like flabbergasted and not so favorite nonstarter, you're right to be alarmed. just like republican senator graham said on cbs's "face the nation." >> i think we're going over the cliff. it's pretty clear to me they've made a political calculation. this offer doesn't deal with medicaid and medicare and social security from imminent bankruptcy and the president's plan coming to entitlement reform is just quite frankly a joke so i don't think they're serious of finding a deal. >> is it inevitable? will we fall off that cliff? white house correspondent brie anna keilar in washington and with me is anna novaro.

brie anbrianna, he now that republicans would not like the deal so why offer it to them? >> reporter: that's right. $1.6 trillion in increased taxes and republicans are not a fan of and about $400 billion in cuts. so republicans will say that's just a fraction compared to increasing taxes. it's not balanced the way the president said he wanted. but the white house and democrats feel, carol, like they have a lot of level roonlg here. they feel like polls show that people will be quick to blame republicans as getting in the way of a deal and blame republicans more in f the country goes over the fiscal cliff and also they feel like think eve kind of got republicans in a corner because these income tax rates are set to increase in everyone at the end of the year and kind of hold that over their heads. now, at the same time,

obviously, the issue here continuing to be tax rates and the white house really wants to deal with that. increase tax rates on the wealthy and then they want to deal with tax reform, entitlement reform later. somehow maybe link them but deal with that later and so they're really drawing this line in the sand as you heard timothy geithner say that the tax rates need to go up for wealthy americans. >> there's a strategy here. so, anna, republican strategist, why aren't republicans offering their own plan in return? isn't that how you negotiate? >> i think first they wanted to see what the president puts on the table. they have seen it. they don't like it. it doesn't have cuts in spending and entitlement reform. they want that. but i think what we're watching right now and see it for the next few days play out, a lot of posturing. this is a game of chicken. who's going to blink first? bottom line is going to reach a compromise, both teams have to do something they don't want to

do and painful for them to swallow. but that's something and that's something that takes a while to assimilate in the -- >> we have like 28 days, an in. >> you know what, carol? 28 days in washington is like dog years. if they want to get something done, they can do a lot of things in 28 days. or they can do nothing. it's, you know, one or the other. you know, it concerns me and it troubles me that a lot of times when we're talking about this fiscal cliff and a lot of people on both sides saying, oh, let's just go over the cliff but the people i see and hearsaying those things on tv are people for whom $3,000 more in taxes don't mean anything. it's not going to mean a less pair of shoes or christmas gifts for the kids. i would like to hear the people who are poor, who are living paycheck to paycheck who would be affect eed obipine and be on and -- >> good point you bring up and

interesting you bring it up since you're a republican because brianna, isn't it true president obama is trying to do just that by taking his plans directly to the american people? >> reporter: yeah. that's right. he did that last week. he's meeting with business leaders this week. he'll be addressing the business roundtable and i think a lesson learned, carol. you saw the debt ceiling debate that went on last year and there were all these meetings between the white house and congressional leaders and didn't seem like they were working and doesn't work to president obama's advantage and the strategy is to go outside, get some pressure going. and they don't really want to have a meeting or else they lose the mojo and interesting what anna says and i think people are concerned because two weeks ago you have a kumbaya feeling and you're not feeling that now. but it's december 3rd.

in the way these things work and we saw this in the payroll tax cut last year, the debt ceiling, the near-government shutdown last year f. you blink you kind of wait until the last minute to do it. >> when no one notices. >> reporter: yeah. i think in a couple of weeks that's when you maybe are really looking for more movement. >> we'll see. thank you so much for joining us this morning. imagine if sea level rose by two feet. that could actually happen within our children's lifetimes. scientists say ice in antarctica is melting faster than expected. bill nye the science guy will join us next. anncr: some politicians seem to think medicare and...

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let's get started at capella.edu did you know there was a big climate change con fence in qatar? i didn't think so. even with freakish weather, sandy the latest, we are not talking much about climate change and sandy brought us flooding in new york city and a blizzard in west virginia. yet, many politicians believe

the pattern of extreme weather is natural. arizona's republican governor jan brewer among them. >> everybody has an opinion on it. you know? and, you know, i probably don't believe it's manmade. i believe that, you know, whether in certain elements are controlled maybe by different things. >> it's no doubt a hot button after we found out after ask the govern nor. >> why in the hell did that question come from? >> well, the reporter asked brewer that because she was just about to go in to the western governor's association to talk about energy. bill nye the science guy is here to talk about climate change. hi, bill. >> greetings. >> greetings. >> carol. >> when you hear -- when you hear jan brewer, you say -- >> well, we as science educators have a lot of work to do.

climate change is caused by people and there's new find where the ice sheets are melting faster than anybody expected. sea levels go up faster than anybody expected. so the populated areas like the east coast where sandy hit are going to be affected. people are going to have to move or take extraordinary steps, steps that people haven't taken before. >> some people say that they shouldn't rebuild along the shores. what do you think? >> well, i think the answer there is clearly it depends. it depends if you have the resources to build the infrastructure or the seabawall the gates, the channels to allow you to tolerate or absorb a storm like sandy. i remind everybody, sandy was not an especially big hurricane. if we get a bigger hurricane, and those sea levels a little higher, the effects are going to be bigger. and more costly and that's here in the developed world. >> well, let's see. if sea levels rise two to feet

over a century, what does that mean for places susceptible to storm surge? >> more flooding. you see how costly it is. we spent -- estimates vary but more than $20 billion to clean this thing up and not cleaned up yet and that's just this year with a small relatively small hurricane. and people think of this one when people say a meter or two to three feet in the next years. it will be rising every year from here on out so i would like -- i'd like the united states to lead the way in this. >> well, it's not exactly doing right that now. the amount of heat-trapping pollution the world spewed rose by 3% and what does it mean? >> well, here's the thing. when you say pollution, by the way, it's a little -- it's easy to conflate or mix together the two ideas of greenhouse gases

and pollution. but they're both -- if you're a human trying to live here they're both undesirable. it's the rate. it's the speed at which the atmosphere is changing. that's what we try to impress on people. not just more parts per million of carbon dioxide or water vapor. it's how fast they're increasing. that's what's going to be troublesome for, well, for everybody. >> when you say -- a final question. when you say that america should lead the way in climate change, what's the first step for president obama to take? >> getting cars to go further on a gal listen of gas is a great -- that's a great first step. the other thing is to make our infrastructure more durable which would be to let's say for example bury power lines but the big thing is education and producing a generation of engineers and scientists who can think deeply about these problems and innovate for new

ideas to address them with ways to move electricity around and store electricity and to do more with less, less electricity we could, dare i say it, change the world. >> i like it! >> if we sit back and let other economies get to work on this, we are not going to be the inventers and innovators that the world counted on for 150 years. it is an exciting time in a sense. we are in a crossroads. let's see if we can get out there and -- >> pick the right road, right? >> first and best at this time. >> bill nye, thanks so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. we'll be back. everything has to be just right. perfection is in the details. ♪ get to holiday fun faster with pillsbury cookie dough.

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as you know, we are following a developing story out of atlanta. at least 26 people and some children taken to the hospital after a hazmat situation shut down an elementary school. this is all according to wxia. cnn affiliate says people were simply overcome by carbon monoxide fumes. happened at finch ellen tear in southwest atlanta. a spokesman tells us the rest of the students are safe and they have been moved to a nearby middle school. we'll be right back. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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all right. i have a very special guest joining me in the studio. that would be henry winkler. >> hi. >> hi. it's so great to have you here. >> you, too. >> many know him as the ffonz on

"happy days" and here to talk about a little known but deeply personal topic. upper limb spasticity. it's a debilitating neurological condition and very common after a stroke. henry, welcome. >> hi. we just -- let mess just say we had a great chat in the commercial break. really a pleasure to be here. >> i appreciate your advice. but let's talk about this condition because i've never heard of it before. >> it usually happens after the patient is at home, maybe with a therapist but the doctor visits are over. and the secondary muscles in the upper limbs start to take over for the primary muscles that are now damaged because of the stroke, a major head injury, spinal cord injury. and you've seen it a million times. the arm is frozen in to place.

the fingers are frozen against the palm. sometimes -- i met a woman in dallas whose arm was frozen out to the side. her children called it their chicken wing. but this therapeutic use of botox is pretty amazing to me. >> let's go back to the condition because you said it's very painful. doesn't just simply freeze your muscles. >> it freezes it in place and it is painful. it's unsightly. it damages the point of view and the way that the patient feels about themselves. very difficult for the caregiver to even dress the patient. >> and your mother suffered this. >> yes. she had a stroke for ten years and the reason i started traveling around the country talking about this, i thought, oh, i wonder what would happen if my mother had the opportunity for this new tool in the doctor's tool box.

>> just botox. didn't take a miraculous discovery of a new drug but botox. >> botox was first used neuroclonneur neurologically and then cosmetic and one of the uses is therapeutic use for upper limb spasticity and today right here at atlanta i'll be at the shepherd center talking at 12:00. >> you're saying not every doctor in the united states knowing about this. which was kind of shocking to me. you think that they would brush up on the latest drugs to use for certain conditions. >> right, right. about a million people every year suffers a stroke. and, you know, it has to be handled very, very delicately because the botox is dilluted for the patient specifically. it is a muscle specific. so, you know, you have to go to your doctor, go to the caregiver

and talk to them about it. >> you're doing this in your spare time. you're a busy guy. >> i'm having a great life. it's true. lin and i, lin ol ler my writing partner, starting a 24th novel and very exciting and very funny and kids write us great letters. december 16th there is a two-hour movie on usa for royal pains. i play the dad. and i love that a lot. >> do you? you don't miss being the sex symbol guy? >> inside. >> you still are. to me. >> thank you, carol! underneath, i have abs that are to kill except you need an x ray. but i'm -- they're there. >> can you do the fonz thing for you? >> hey babe. >> i love that. thank you so much. >> thank you for chatting. >> i appreciate it. we'll be right back.

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talk back question for you today. should the perkins/belchers tragedy cause us to rethink gun control. lots of responses. thanks so much. this is from debbie. if the diseases were killing the massive numbers of american that is gun dos the greatest minds in the country would be searching for a cure. this is from jill. guns don't kill people. people kill people. assault weapons should be controlled. it's not a gun they find another way to take a life if that's what they decided to do. this from denise. most other advanced countries have very strict gun control and they have much less gun violence and killing than we have in the usa. you don't blame a spoon for making people